Planning permission for flood doors rejected

Scottish Water had asked East Lothian Council for permission to put new doors in place at The Waterside Bistro in Haddington.

Planning permission was sought to replace a number of doors in a bid to try to combat flooding issues.

The existing solid timber doors at the front and rear of the building would have been replaced with “UPVC laminate wood grain effect finish” doors.

However, the proposals have been rejected by the council’s planning department.

The planning officer’s report notes: “The supporting statement submitted with this application states that The Waterside Bistro is constrained by flood risk from the combined sewer, the surface water sewer and from the River Tyne.

“It is stated that, due to the various potential flooding sources, it is not possible to prevent internal flooding without the use of flood doors which should offer better protection to the building from most storm events.

“It also states that the critical benefit of the UPVC specification is that the active flood seal gasket has been specifically designed to align with the existing profile of the UPVC door, resulting in a flood door that provides almost zero leakage under flooding conditions.

“It states that flood doors made of alternative materials, where the sealing mechanism is achieved through compression of bespoke sealing gaskets, have proved to be problematic in terms of effectiveness and performance in the longer term.”

No members of the public objected to the proposals for the building.

However, the local authority’s planning department argued that UPVC was “a non-traditional material that is not appropriate for use on the principle elevations of a listed building, particularly one that occupies such a prominent location within the historic core of Haddington Conservation Area”.

A spokesperson for Scottish Water added: “Scottish Water is reviewing options for any future work to alleviate flooding in this area following East Lothian Council’s planning decision.”